I rate beer on Beer Advocate under the name Naugros

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Once before I felt that the blog had completely lost focus and had to be reined in...and here we are again. This time it was a conscious decision that waylaid my best intentions and brought my entries into a realm that I wasn't really comfortable with.

Are we still attempting to visit every New Jersey brewery and brewpub and as many restaurants and bars as we possibly can? Hell yeah!

Are the crucial tenants of brewshido still in place? Absolutely! I still preach "Don't be a douche!"

Are the kohai still intact and working at this together? We had a couple fall out of the group and we're looking to add to it with some great beer people who I hope won't mind being part of this merry band of recreants. They'll need nicknames though.

Are we still reviewing the places we visit? NO!

And that is the big change. Really, who are we to judge these places? Sometimes the reviews were based on one visit and that isn't fair. I even explain that concept in the Cloverleaf review. So the review sheets we'd hand out at the beginning of each visit are now scrapped (although the ones we already filled out are being preserved for posterity and a reminder of what not to do).

Another reason behind this change is based on the entries for the road trips the Control and I took. Since these places weren't in New Jersey we didn't bother to go about the usual chore (and I mean "chore") of answering the questions on the review sheets. We just went where we wanted to go, drank, ate and enjoyed the fuck out of ourselves. I wanted to make our excursions within the state just as laid back, non-stressful and enjoyable.

Coincidentally, this is the same reason I barely review beers on BeerAdvocate anymore. It's too laborious and I found myself "saving" special beers for when I felt like reviewing them. No longer! When I want to drink that beer, I'll bloody well drink that beer!

So if you go back to some of the entries for New Jersey destinations you'll find that the score card placards are gone and most of the negative comments have been edited out. I don't want to jade anyone from visiting ANY place in the Garden State with something that may have been a one-time deal or something that we may have inadvertently caused ourselves.

Psst, I also corrected a few grammar and spelling errors...as if there were any in the first place.

This also comes at a time which the whole gang has been anxiously awaiting. The Senpai has just completed his last round of chemo and should have his sense of taste and ability to withstand cold back by the holidays. We are all overjoyed by the fact that he's been declared cancer-free and 2013 will see his attendance on the road trips and, hopefully, an increase in visits to New Jersey locales.